SWEET POTATO NOODLE SALAD WITH CREAMY CHIPOTLE MISO SAUCE

March 16th, 2016

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Our Hawaii trip had two distinct halves. When we transitioned from the loud, polished, jam-packed, super-happening Waikiki beach over to a cute cottage on the north shore of Oahu, I started to feel like I was in my truest of true elements. You could get a smoothie loaded with superfoods almost anywhere. Every restaurant had a thoughtful and complete vegan option. People were doing literally everything outside. Cut offs and a bikini seemed to pass for full dress almost everywhere. You could always hear/see the ocean. It was total, unadulterated, chilled-out bliss mode.

When we were staying there, Mark and I ate at this one modern hippie-dip café a couple times. They had fresh juice, tons of thoughtful, all-vegetarian/vegan options, a detectable Lionel Richie decor theme, and it didn’t smell like wheatgrass in the slightest. You actually felt kinda cool being in there. I love that this experience (maybe minus the Lionel) is becoming more common with health-conscious restaurants (as health-conscious restaurants themselves become more common yay!). Anyway, the one night that we went there for dinner, I started with a creamy chickpea soup that was garnished with confit lemon and smoky paprika. It had a hot hummus vibe, but in a way that I really enjoyed. Mark had a mixed green salad with all kinds of spiralized vegetables, roasted beets and a chipotle miso dressing. I kept dipping my fork into that salad. The dressing was bomb.

Usually when I eat a salad, I need it to have tons of extras like toasted nuts and seeds, some cooked grains, sprouts, legumes, nutritional yeast, herbs, a roasted component, maybe a crouton of some sort. I always say that a salad should be like a vegetable sundae–many layers of flavour and texture. This one was just vegetables and dressing, but that dressing was so well-rounded with just the right amount of heat to keep you coming back. I didn’t care about the extras or the layers or anything else besides figuring out how to make it at home.

Since we’ve been back, I’ve been using my spiralizer in earnest. Something about these previews of Spring-like weather, and the general craving for something lighter. It’s also just so much fun to turn a vegetable into a heap of noodles. I’ve played around with julienned raw sweet potatoes in a slaw/salad before, but never as the main component of a dish. It’s so delicious! The “noodles” are a little sweet and lightly crisp while still retaining that springy/stretchy noodle-like quality. I crave sweet potatoes with chipotle regularly, so I knew that this combination could be a match made in heaven. I went a bit creamy with the chipotle miso dressing, starting with a base of raw cashew butter. Once you sprinkle in some wisps of fresh basil, golden toasted almond slivers, sprouts, and shelled edamames, you’ve got a bowl of very colourful and happy food. I think that might be a theme around here ;)

SWEET POTATO NOODLE SALAD WITH CHIPOTLE MISO SAUCE RECIPEPrint the recipe here!Serves: 4Notes: If you don’t have a spiralizer, you could follow this handy tutorial from Food52 for julienning the sweet potatoes instead. I haven’t tried it, but if you’re allergic to nuts, I imagine tahini or sunflower seed butter would substitute nicely for the cashew. From there, you could garnish with the corresponding seed in place of the slivered almonds.

Update: there have been a lot of question/comments about eating the sweet potato noodles raw. I always invite people to do their own research and decide what is best for them. I won’t ever say that something is inherently good or bad for anyone’s body/lifestyle because it’s not my place to do so. Having said ALL of that, if you still want to make this recipe (but are nervous about consuming the sweet potatoes raw), you could lightly steam or sauté the noodles before you toss the salad together. The texture will just be slightly different :)CHIPOTLE MISO SAUCE INGREDIENTS2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice1 tablespoon raw cashew butter1 teaspoon light/mellow miso1 teaspoon maple syrup1 canned chipotle preserved in adobo, minced + 1 teaspoon of the adobo1 small clove garlic, finely grated with a rasp/microplanesea salt and ground black pepper, to taste2 tablespoons olive oilSALAD INGREDIENTS2 medium sweet potatoes (roughly 1 ⅓ lbs/600 grams), peeled1 cup frozen shelled edamame1 healthy sprig fresh basil, finely sliced (approximately ¼ cup sliced basil)handful of sprouts that you like (I used broccoli sprouts)¼ cup slivered almonds, toastedMake the dressing: In a small (soup/cereal) bowl, combine the lemon juice, cashew butter, and miso. Mash the cashew butter and miso into the lemon juice using the back of a spoon or small spatula. Once you have a cloudy and unified liquid, add the maple syrup, chipotle, adobo, garlic, salt, pepper, and olive oil. Whisk the mixture vigorously until you have a smooth sauce. Check it for seasoning and set aside.Set your spiralizer up with the blade that makes spaghetti-like strands. Sometimes this is called a “shredding blade.” Run the sweet potatoes through the spiralizer. Transfer the sweet potato “noodles” to a large bowl.Bring a medium saucepan of water to a boil. Place the frozen edamame in the pot and boil for 3 minutes. Drain the edamame and rinse. Set aside.Toss the sweet potato noodles with half of the chipotle miso sauce, half the edamame, half the basil, half the sprouts, some salt, and pepper. Toss to combine. Then, drizzle the remaining sauce on top. Garnish the noodles with the remaining edamame, basil, sprouts, and slivered almonds. Serve immediately.

Hey Maureen and Claudia!
Yes you leave the strands of sweet potato raw. It sounds strange at first, but I promise that it’s delicious. When they’re shredded/sliced into such thin wisps as they are here, the flavour/texture is kind of like shredded carrot in a way. Hope you try it ;)
-LReplyCancel

My spiralizer has been getting plenty of use in this spring-y weather too!! Something about the warmer weather just makes me crave fresh veggies :) Also, I never would have thought to combine chipotle peppers and miso, but they’re two of my favorite flavors and they sound AMAZING together!! :DReplyCancel

This is silly, but I can’t really figure out how to use my spiralizer. Is it the type of thing you just need to get the hang of? I have a paderno I think! I love the combo of sweet potato and chipotle too. And vegetable sundae? I think that’s the best term for a big layered salad I’ve come across :)ReplyCancel

Sometimes I have issues with mine (also a Paderno)! Like I’ll be turning the handle and then it just sorta stops spinning the actual vegetable. Then I have to remove and re-align the vegetable with the blade thing. If every vegetable was perfectly straight with uniform density, there’d be no problems haha.

I do find that this is a more common issue with harder vegetables like beets and sweet potatoes though. You’re not alone in the struggle ;)ReplyCancel

I love everything about this salad, especially the dressing! So fresh and vibrant. And lol @ the Lionel decor, I think I could move past it if there was something delicious to distract me ;)ReplyCancel

laura, i’m so happy you were able to bliss out for awhile – the ocean is damn good for that. – this is such a delicious salad woman. it’s also cosmic because i bought a bag of crinkle-cut carrots from the grocer last week, and one slightly inebriated night i pulled them out and started mowing them down. well it turns out they were sweet-potatoes and i was delightfully shocked. point? they’re so great raw. xo xoReplyCancel

I am so right there with you, veggies in noodle form = the best. I’m ashamed how little I’ve used my spiralizer and you have definitely motivated me to pull that baby out. Loved following your HI trip on Instagram, so craving the ocean and excited to be back on a coast in a few weeks. This is stunning, too, lady! And your anthro post, crazy silly gorgeous. You have some table setting skills friend! Hope you’re having a stellar week, eating all of that rainbow – xoReplyCancel

Samm17/03/2016 - 10:36 am

Excuse the newbie here, but I guess I was surprised the sweet potato was raw! In my world, sweet potatoes are boiled within an inch of their life! So raw you say?! I guess I’ll have to be bold!ReplyCancel

Monica17/03/2016 - 11:05 pm

Amazing dish!! I love sweet potatoes so much and this recipe calls for uncooked sweet potato…interesting …I need to visit my mom she has that kitchen tool.ReplyCancel

[…] I could have a few of my favorite bloggers cook for me this weekend I would choose Laura’s sweet potato noodle salad, Nina’s banana bread, and The Kitchn’s veggie nori rolls to ring in […]ReplyCancel

I’m a bit worried by the raw sweet potato though. I don’t think it would be a huge issue to eat every now and then, but an FAO study shows that raw sweet potato contains a trypsin inhibitor (denatured by heating to 90º C for several minutes). Trypsin inhibitors make food, particularly protein, difficult to digest and affect the nutritional uptake of food. Might be a good idea to substitute carrots if this is a regular dish in one’s repertoire.

[…] There are endless options to top these things, but I made my toasts with spinach, a quick Acovado Pea Mash, feta cheese and boiled eggs. Lots of greens and plenty of flavor, yum. I’d really love to top these with poached eggs but I still haven’t had the patience (or the courage?) to try those, so I’m sticking with these boiled eggs with a runny yolk. While I’m waiting for that patience to rise in me, I’ll be sure to have these until I get bored and then come up with a new sweet potato craze. I’ve got my eyes on this Sweet Potato Juice on this Laura’s gorgeous Sweet Potato Noodle Salad… […]ReplyCancel

[…] This salad caught my eye over on The First Mess and I just had to give it a whirl with a few minor more paleo friendly tweaks. The amazing photography drew me in and I’m a sucker for all things chipotle infused, especially salad dressings! […]ReplyCancel

[…] of course!). In particular I’ve been wanting to try a raw sweet potato salad since I saw Laura post a recipe for one a few weeks ago. Once I saw a cooked, spiralised sweet potato dish in Alessandra’s new […]ReplyCancel

[…] of course!). In particular I’ve been wanting to try a raw sweet potato salad since I saw Laura post a recipe for one a few weeks ago. Once I saw a cooked, spiralised sweet potato dish in Alessandra’s new […]ReplyCancel

[…] of course!). In particular I’ve been wanting to try a raw sweet potato salad since I saw Laura post a recipe for one a few weeks ago. Once I saw a cooked, spiralised sweet potato dish in Alessandra’s new […]ReplyCancel

Do not eat raw potatoes, people. They contain indigestible starches which reach the small intestine where bacteria feeds off them causing gas, stomach pain, etc. They also make their own toxins to fend off insects, which can be dangerous for human consumption.Only if you know you have very fresh potatoes and they are not bruised or damaged, only then can you “juice” them, but still you should not eat them whole.
Do your own research before making this recipe.ReplyCancel

[…] on the latest kitchen trends. When I saw Sarah’s recipe, Izy’s, and then Laura’s, I was lusting over spiralizers, but I managed to talk myself out of getting one. Then I was […]ReplyCancel

May27/06/2017 - 6:14 pm

I fed this to my family for dinner, but I baked the sweet potato noodles for diplomacy. It did not go over well because the kids couldn’t handle the heat and the husband, as it turns out, doesn’t seem to like miso. But I LOVED IT! Sooooo delicious!ReplyCancel

caroline16/09/2017 - 11:14 pm

Unfortunately, my spiralizer couldn’t handle sweet potatoes. Started to julienne them, but RSI flared up. Cubed and roasted them, did everything else per recipe, and it was very tasty!ReplyCancel

[…] haven’t tested this vegan salad made from spiralized sweet potatoes (from Laura at The First Mess), but the combo of chipotle with miso seems like a spectacular […]ReplyCancel

Amy Johnson16/11/2018 - 1:39 am

This was really yummy. However, with the raw sweet potatoes, it did taste starchy. Is there a way to keep the salad raw, but remove the starchiness? I was thinking of possibly soaking the potatoes? Otherwise great salad!ReplyCancel

If you still want the salad to be raw, I think soaking beforehand is the only option. I haven’t tried it personally so can’t guarantee whether it will work or not. I’d try soaking the “noodled” sweet potatoes for an hour and taste one to see where they’re at. Once you have them at a point that satisfies you, you can drain, rinse, dry and proceed.
-LReplyCancel